On September 18, 2015, the highly touted pop artist Lady Gaga released a song titled “Til It Happens to You”. This song differentiates itself from other musical creations in this genre in that it features an orchestra. Lady Gaga uses the orchestra as instrumentation in this to add a much more serious tone to the song. People often think of pop as more exciting type genre and one that does not typically carry much significance. She goes against this and creates a piece that those affected by sexual abuse can relate to and one that people stop to think about. Because she sings about real world issues that have directly impacted her life, Lady Gage brings much more meaning to the song. The lyrics represent a voice that is trying to be heard but does not have the ability to make anyone listen. The Indiana University sexual misconduct policy states that sexual misconduct includes sexual assault and rape on campus, which is the exact situation Gaga sings about in this song. (University 2018) …show more content…
She uses her own point of view when discussing a situation that affects an incredible number of women every day. While females do make up most of the sexual abuse victims, these lyrics are not gender biased. Lady Gaga speaks as if to represent all individuals that have been affected by this, girl or boy. The lyrics get a point across in a rather simple way. For example, in the chorus, Gaga sings, “Til it happens to you, you don’t know how it feels” (Gaga 2015). This line blatantly states a victim’s point of view when people try to tell them everything will be alright. We cannot possibly begin to understand exactly what these people have experienced. She speaks for the individuals affected by rape on college campuses without mentioning any sexual terms at all. By simply speaking from a victim’s point of view, she makes her message much more
Objectification of women and misogyny is a common trend in song lyrics, but it is often socially accepted and further perpetuated. Finding a song in which the roles are reversed and a woman depicts a man as a sex object is incredibly difficult because when women try to break norms in the music industry, they are often criticized. In “Blah Blah Blah” by Kesha, she reverses the typical gender roles in song lyrics by objectifying men. Kesha has her own struggles within the male-dominated music industry because her producer sexually abused her and trapped her into a record deal. However, Kesha lost her court case, which illuminates gender issues within the music industry and the larger society. In 2010 when Kesha’s songs were popular, people weren’t aware of her battle with her producer. Instead, her lyrics classified her as more of a party figure and people even saw her as “trashy.” This song
The video promotes a realistic portrayal of women while undermining negative societal expectations put to those women. Furthermore, the message behind it, one calling people to accept themselves and to not feel the need to strive towards unreachable goals set by the media, can be applied to the lives of not only women but men as well. While the song was obviously meant for women, it is still holds the important message for people of any gender, age, or race to understand that being true to and learning to accept one’s self can only lead to positive
The author’s opening statement to persuade her audience is a great quote to grab the reader’s attention, also allowing her to set her main argument right away. She mentions that the whole situation was a big misinterpretation, and by being exaggerated with celebrity sources, many other women may feel that they have been sexually abused or assaulted. Weiss states, “I’m apparently the victim of sexual assault. And if you’re a sexually active woman in the 21st century, chances are, that you are, too.” Here, she is trying to prove that the victim was guilty of not helping herself. With such a provocative statement, the audience may feel like Weiss is downplaying the issue at hand. However, she is connecting to the reader’s to instantly grab their attention to keep reading her article. After the woman and Mr. Ansari’s date, they headed back to his apartment. Shortly after, a few glasses of wine deep, the two hooked up. The victim claims Ansari “persistently tried to have penetrative sex with her” and to have been “deeply uncomfortable throughout”. The victim also claims to have “tried to voice her hesitations, but Mr. Ansari ignored her signals”. At times, Weiss discretely points fingers that it was the victim’s fault for not being verbally straightforward with Ansari. Weiss believes that this is just one example of feminists
There are many instances of degrading and misogynistic lyrics in country music, both historically and contemporarily. There are differences in the lyrics of this genre based on the gender of the artist: gender roles, hypersexuality, and in the resistance or conformity to rigid gender-based stereotypes. The main points of my argument will include how country music lyrics have historically and contemporarily conformed to and defied gender roles and misogynistic stereotypes. This paper will then examine how men are portrayed as sexual oppressors and exploiters to women. As well, I will discuss the lyrical differences between men and women in this genre, including the limiting role of women as objects as opposed to subjects. Next, this essay will address in my paper the unhealthy environment country music lyrics creates for women. Country music lyrics currently and historically portray stereotypical gender roles, and women have limited roles within country music songs as subjects and objects.
Both the girl and the boy were being bullied and abused. The girl was verbally abused by her friends and peers and we don’t find out why until later. The boy was physically and emotionally abused by a group of boys due to his sexuality. These examples give off a sense of feeling sympathetic towards the characters. During these moments the lyrics say, “I could never be what you want me to. You pull me under to save yourself.” This shows the audience that the expectations of their parents and the world around them are too high for them to live up to and that people will drag anyone down to feel better about themselves. The lyrics then go on to say. “You will never see what's inside of me. I pull you under just to save myself.” By using this perspective switch it is showing that the victim has more potential than you care to see and as humans our main goal in life is self preservation.
...e can acknowledge that popular music constantly demonstrates feminine weakness, where do we go from there? Ultimately, these overtly sexual songs have dominated music charts in the last few decades, and show no sign of stopping. Why would they? Robin Thicke is a multi-millionaire. Terisa Siagatonu and Rudy Francisco are not. Regardless of message popularity, these rape culture songs make millions for the artist and labels. Given the unprecedented success of songs like “Blurred Lines”, can this rape culture in pop music ever be changed? Will a song promoting feminine strength ever perform better than a song littered with unwarranted sexual advances? Or will the rape culture trend only continue to grow? Will my future daughter be treated as a person, regardless of her gender, or will she spend her lifetime even more objectified than my sister and I have been in ours?
Rape is a very severe incident that had occurred in Melinda’s life that many readers can connect to. Rape had ruined Melinda’s social and emotional well-being and stability that originated further problems. When one is sexually abused at a young age, it is highly traumatizing and Melinda constantly tries to hide herself from this reality but is unable to. Her unbearable past as a defenseless girl, who is abused, still reverberates in her mind, and has a contradictory effect on her many distant and close relationships (ex-friends, parents, etc.). As Andy Evans (a senior) tries to get close to Melinda, she refers to the incident, through her quotes, with deep emotion that may tie back to how she may have felt at that moment. She states, “He smells like beer, and mean, and he hurts me hurts me hurts me and gets up,” (pg. 135) express’s her sorrowful feelings towards this incident. Her constant repeating of the phrase “hurts me” suggests that she is trying to convince herself that it r...
The novel 1984, written by George Orwell in 1949, details the life of a one Winston Smith and his constant, life long battle to defeat Big Brother. This dystopian vision of the future serves as a reminder to the reader that anything can happen, but it is up to humanity to shape what kind of future is wanted in the end. Although Orwell’s novel is rather convincing to the people of this time, it serves only as a warning to one of many outcomes that the world could face. This book was Orwell’s idea of how life could have ended up; had people not realized that there is always a way to change what we do not like in life. Through the author’s many literary techniques, he was able to weave in meaning and importance to simple everyday objects
American singer-songwriter Halsey performed a poem titled "A story like mine" at the Women’s March on January 20, 2018. Throughout her poem she references to several encounters with sexual abuse, whether it was her personal story or of a friends experience. She then proceeds to persuade us to always care for everyone and to listen to those who seem to need to be heard because they might not have someone to support them regardless of what their unique situation might be. Halsey also states that no one is safe regardless of who you are or how powerful you think to be, no one is untouchable. Halsey begins building her credibility with personal experiences with sexual abuse assault by using pathos to grasp the audiences’ emotion, yet also informing her audience and using a rhetorical situation.
“She takes my money when I’m in need”. Those lyrics from Kanye West’s song “Gold Digger” shows his misogynistic views about gold diggers and how women use men for money. Still, in other parts of the song he shows that he shows that he loves them (“It takes too much to touch her; from what I heard she got a baby by Busta; my best friend says she use to f**k with Usher; I don’t care what none of y’all say I still love her.”). Kanye is one of many artists (especially hip-hop artists) that uses misogyny in their lyrics and see all women this way. The concept of a gold digger is quite popular and has been glamorized over history, however, the term revels misogynist and stereotypical ideas about women’s worth and motivations.
Beyoncé uses a unique, dualistic form of characterization in this video to develop the main character and demonstrate gender inequality. The main character developed throughout the video is the disloyal, unappreciative, and neglectful boyfriend of Beyoncé. Beyoncé’s lyrics describe him and are from a third person perspective. Beyoncé also develops this character by playing the part herself, in this role she is unappreciative of her boyfriend, ignores her boyfriend’s phone calls, flirts with a coworker right in front of him, and ultimately hurts his feelings. But, after the role reversal, the male actor takes on the role of the main character and we realize that Beyoncé was only figuratively playing the main character and was only imitating the boyfriend in that role.
The End of the Damsel in Distress In today’s day and age, society is working to conquer issues involving sexism, gender roles and is promoting female empowerment. However, I recognize that there are still articles of media that continue to portray women based on outdated gender norms. One culprit of this heinous crime is the song “Love Story,” by Taylor Swift. While some may consider it to be nothing more than mainstream country music sung by a hopeless romantic teen, the message of the song raises some questions in my head.
Many people associate sexist language with the music genre of rap and hip/hop, but the truth is that sexist language invades every style of music. While it is true that the lyrics to rap songs contain the most obvious derogatory terms towards women, research has found that popular pop music also includes language that can demoralize women or make women seem inferior to men. Women are often referred to as objects and even as possessions by artists, implying that even in this day and age females are still second-class compared to males. Some artists compare women to cars, others use their words to enforce their male dominance. Regardless of how popular an artist or song is promoting sexist lyrics shows that as a whole the public does not have a problem with demoralizing women. Numerous male musicians even use this sort of language as a marketing tactic, knowing that their lyrics will cause a controversy that could inevitably boost album sales.
This song is an excellent example of the empowerment women and men may need occasionally. When someone is faced with a painful situation, people basically show two kinds of reaction: giving up or struggling. Those who decide to give up will usually keep complaining and blaming others for the situation they face. In contrast, those who decide to struggle, even though initially show almost the same reactions as the first group of people, they will finally choose to look at the good side of the situation they face. The process of being down, looking for the positives, and avoiding negative thoughts or feelings may be difficult but could ultimately result in the greatest gift of all, happiness.
The lyrics of music play an important part of interpreting the meaning of the song. The roles which women have been allowed by the society to embody have changed drastically. Women may question their roles because of what they see portrayed by popular culture or media. Change in female’s identity can be seen in how women are viewed or how they portray themselves in popular culture specifically through music. In general, music continues to...